Hour photo/John Nash - Former Norwalk quarterback Greg Goldstein, seen here firing a pass during the Bears' 33-22 win over Brien McMahon in their annual Thanksgiving Day football game, has transferred to St. Luke's School in New Canaan.

Hour photo/John Nash - Former Norwalk quarterback Greg Goldstein, seen here firing a pass during the Bears' 33-22 win over Brien McMahon in their annual Thanksgiving Day football game, has transferred to St.

Hour photo/John Nash - Izaiah Sanders, former wide receiver for Norwalk, seen here in action as the Bears defeated Brien McMahon 33-22 in their annual Thanksgiving Day football game last fall, has transferred to Trinity Catholic for the new school year.

Hour photo/John Nash - Izaiah Sanders, former wide receiver for Norwalk, seen here in action as the Bears defeated Brien McMahon 33-22 in their annual Thanksgiving Day football game last fall, has transferred

NORWALK — The Norwalk High School football program has suffered two big hits over the summer, losing its probable starting quarterback and a starting wide receiver to transfers to separate private schools.

Rising seniors Greg Goldstein and Izaiah Sanders have departed the Bears program with plans on attending St. Luke’s School and Trinity Catholic, respectively, Norwalk head coach Sean Ireland confirmed on Wednesday.

“A lot of people think the grass is greener on the other side and sometimes when they get there, it’s not,” Ireland said.

Goldstein burst onto the scene last season, replacing former Bears starter Jeremy Linton, who left the team right before the season’s Thanksgiving Day finale against Brien McMahon.

Goldstein quarterbacked the Bears to a stunning 33-22 win over their cross city-rival rivals in the last game of the season. He completed 8 of 15 passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns.

Two of those scoring strikes went to Sanders, who finished the season averaging better than 20 yards a catch and six touchdowns.

Ireland wouldn’t guess as to why the players transferred, but defended his own program and its ability to send players from his program to success, even at the next level if they so choose to pursue the sport in college.

“Who knows?” why they left, the Bears boss said. “All I know is I know we can get you into school (a college). Last year we sent a player (two-way lineman Evan Adams) to Syracuse. Since I’ve started here, we’ve sent 25 players on to play college football. I can only speak for us and not other schools, but we do just as good a job as other schools putting our players in a place to succeed.”

Ireland said he’s not worried about losing the two players, which on paper might seem significant just weeks before the preseason starts.

“Not one bit,” he said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want them here. But (junior quarterback) Krishtjan Frrokaj has been putting in a tremendous amount of work this offseason and he’s looking great. Plus, we have a very, very deep wide receiving corps and a very deep corps in the secondary, so we’ll be fine.”

Norwalk finished 5-6 season.

The Bears losses, however, is both Trinity Catholic’s and St. Luke’s gain as both teams needed to fill the positions.

The Crusaders lost 14 seniors from last year’s squad, including wide out Randy Polonia.

Sanders — who has changed his residence to Stamford, allowing him instant eligibility at Trinity — fits a big need in the Crusaders offense.

“To be quite honest, I wasn’t too familiar with him until he decided to come over and transfer,” said Trinity head coach Donnie Panapada. “From what I’ve seen now, having had a chance to check out his Hudl (recruiting videos) he seems like a player that will fit in to our system.”

After going 0-11 in Panapada’s first season at Trinity, the Crusaders rebounded to post a 7-4 mark last season in the FCIAC.

Goldstein meanwhile joins a St. Luke’s program that plays in the Fairchester Athletic Association — a league which usually has some outstanding top-of-the-line talent but lacks the depth of an FCIAC program.

The Storm, however, have been one of the league’s stronger teams in two of the last three seasons.

St. Luke’s, coached by Norwalk resident Noel Thomas Sr., went 7-2 last season and was 8-1 in 2012 with a 3-5 rebuilding year in 2013.

Thomas saw Goldstein play in last year’s Norwalk-McMahon game and walked away impressed from the quarterback, and was pleased to hear he was transferring to the New Canaan-based school.

“He’s a talented young man,” said Thomas. “What I liked is his commitment to his academic life. What I like about Greg, is he’s a strong student and he came with great recommendations. On the field, his quickness and smarts in the pocket were noticeable. He’s mature and cool under pressure. And, he plays with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder.”

St. Luke’s lost its starting quarterback from last season so Goldstein also fills a need in the Red Storm backfield.

Neither Sanders nor Goldstein could be reached for comment on Wednesday.